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SWAZILAND: 1000 demand reform

More than 1000 members of the Young Communist League and the Swaziland Solidarity Movement protested outside the Swaziland embassy in Pretoria on March 30, calling for democratic reform of the monarchy and condemning the current constitutional reform

VATICAN CITY: Pope John Paul II, a reactionary in shepherd's clothing.

Barry Healy Karol Jozef Wojtya, known as John Paul II since assuming the office of pope in October 1978, will be remembered as one of the most significant, though certainly not the most progressive, figures in the history of the Roman Catholic

This week in history

April 6 1998: Patrick Stevedores launches its "war on the waterfront" by sacking its work force at night using security guards and dogs. April 9 1981: IRA prisoner Bobby Sands is elected MP while on hunger strike. April 10 1919: Mexican

Bay dredging to cause major environmental damage

Helen Smith spoke to Neil Blake, coordinator of the Port Phillip EcoCentre — a resource and support centre for community groups undertaking environment initiatives in the coastal area of Melbourne — about the Port Phillip Bay channel deepening

UNITED STATES: Feeding frenzy over a feeding tube

Towards the end of March, the US media was consumed with an issue that even squeezed out Michael Jackson: the attempts by US President George Bush to intervene to "save the life" of Terri Schiavo, who has been in a vegatative state for the last 15

Our Common Cause: Unity needed to reawaken the sleeping giant

While in London and Brussels some 100,000 people took part in rallies to mark the second anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, only 7000 people took to the streets across Australia on March 18-20. What has happened to the million Australians

SCOTLAND: School students defeat deportation

At dawn on March 6, 14 immigration officials raided the home of the Murselaj family — Tade, her husband Sadush and their three children Agnese (15), Gentian (12) and Leonard (9) — and took them into immigration detention. Roma refugees from

IRAQ: Child malnutrition doubles under occupation

Doug Lorimer Acute malnutrition among Iraqi children under five years of ago had doubled since the US invasion and occupation two years ago, Jean Ziegler, the UN Human Rights Commission's special expert on the right to food, told a session of the

VENEZUELA: Pro Chaves forces propose to present their own candidates

Roberto Jorquera, Caracas A coalition of pro-Chavez forces including the Venezuelan Communist Party, Socialist League and community organisations held a press conference on March 29 to explain that they are prepared to unite and present their own

VIETNAM: Thirty years on, victory is celebrated

Allen Myers, Ho Chi Minh City April 30 will be the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and the liberation of southern Vietnam from foreign occupation and domination. As part of the preparations for celebrating the anniversary, the Ho Chi

Correction

An article by John Gauci in issue #620 titled "NSW teachers' union calls for mass IR protest" incorrectly stated that the industrial relations report to the New South Wales Teachers Federation state council was given by president Maree O'Halloran.

Nuclear sites exposure tour

Jim Green, Adelaide Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Adelaide's Campaign Against Nuclear Dumping are hosting a tour of South Australia's nuclear sites on April 15-23. FoE has organised many similar trips over the past decade, attracting people from